Tutorials Archives - DIY Photography

Should you use a tripod or shoot hand-held for nature photography?

January 26, 2020 by Ole Henrik Skjelstad 7 Comments

When it comes to nature photography, should you shoot on a tripod or hand-held? Let me share some personal stories and then I would love to get your opinion.

I shoot the vast majority of my images on a tripod. I am fully aware that I sacrifice some flexibility in the field. However, such an approach gives me sharp images with a horizon in level. I predominantly shoot during the golden hour. This entails that I often shoot exposures where the shutter is open way longer than if I was shooting in bright daylight. If possible, I also almost exclusively shoot at base ISO. Base ISO means that the sensor produces very little noise and peaks in terms of dynamic range. I know that with my sub-par hand-held technique I’ll probably ruin many images during golden hour due to handshake. Even vibration reduction activated can’t save me there.

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This calendar shows the best days of the year to shoot the Milky Way in 2020

January 23, 2020 by Dan Zafra Leave a Comment

Milky Way photography is one of the most fascinating types of photography, but to shoot the most appealing part of our galaxy, the Milky Way center, you need to plan your shot since it’s not always visible.

The galactic center is only visible during a specific season (March to September in the Northern Hemisphere and February to October in the Southern Hemisphere), and also, just for a few hours during the night.

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How to use light, shadows and highlights for dramatic portrait lighting

January 21, 2020 by Barry Mountford 2 Comments

Hey, folks! Its a brand new year and one I am pumped for! 2020 is gonna be another great year! To kick this new decade off, I wanted to share with you some lighting setups and behind the scenes from a portrait session where we tried out a few different setups, if you prefer to watch the video you can check it out above.

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This free “Ultimate” travel and landscape photography tutorial is three hours long

January 20, 2020 by John Aldred Leave a Comment

Travel and landscape photography has always been popular, but since everybody now has a camera in their pocket and many are also choosing to take things further with a DSLR or mirrorless camera, it’s really taken off. Finding information on travel or landscape photography isn’t exactly difficult, but Taylor Jackson has combined all his knowledge into this three-hour “Ultimate” travel and landscape tutorial video.

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How to quickly clean up and retouch a messy studio floor in Photoshop

January 18, 2020 by John Aldred Leave a Comment

In an ideal world, studio floors and walls would all be pristine and perfect. But in the real world, even freshly painted and cleaned ones don’t stay that way for very long. They pick up dust and dirt, get smudges, scuffs and scratches, and we end up having to either clean and repaint them more often or just deal with it in post. And if it’s a rented studio, forget about it.

In this video, Robert at Optical Noise brings us his method for retouching studio floors in Photoshop to clean up this mess, and even out the colours.

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How to photograph a clear liquid bottle using inexpensive gear and unusual modifiers

January 17, 2020 by John Aldred 2 Comments

Bottles are always a fun and challenging photography experiment, especially ones that contain crystal clear liquids like vodka. I don’t buy vodka often and when I do, it rarely tends to stay full long enough to have any time in front of the camera, but Dustin at Workphlo has definitely put some thought into photographing this one using some low budget kit and very interesting techniques.

If you’ve watched Dustin’s videos before, you’ll know he’s a fan of compositing when it comes to product photography. And this particular technique pretty much requires it as he cuts paper to act as reflectors on just small sections of the bottle’s label.

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How to turn your on-camera flash into an off-camera softbox for $30 or less

January 10, 2020 by Dunja Djudjic 1 Comment

There can be many reasons why you don’t have a softbox, but there can also be many situations when you could really use one. I know I’ve had them. If you can relate, this awesome tutorial from SLR Lounge’s Pye Jirsa is just what you need. In this video, he shows you how to turn your on-camera flash into an off-camera softbox and get the flattering, soft light. You will need around $30 worth of gear for this, but you know what’s great? You probably already have it at home.

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If you’re confused by curve and levels in Photoshop you need to watch this beginner’s guide

January 9, 2020 by John Aldred Leave a Comment

Two of the most commonly used adjustment layers within Photoshop are arguably the Curves and Levels adjustment layers. But if you’re new to Photoshop and you’ve never used them before, you might feel a little intimidated by them. Or perhaps you’re used to the basics of them, but don’t really understand their full power.

In this video, Aaron Nace at Phlearn walks us through the basics of how they work, the differences between the two, and how we can use them effectively in Photoshop to adjust the contrast, brightness or even colour of our photographs.

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These are three biggest mistakes you make when shooting beverages

January 9, 2020 by Dunja Djudjic 2 Comments

Shooting reflective surfaces can be a tricky task, especially if you’re a beginner. And naturally, we all make mistakes. In this video, Alex Koloskov talks about the three biggest mistakes photographers make when shooting beverages, but he also teaches you how to fix them so you can improve your photos.

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